'Tune into your Health' Is an innovative health promotion project within Nunkuwarrin Yunti of SA Inc, the Aboriginal Health Service in Adelaide. In the past year the project has completed two compilation music CDs with Aboriginal youth.

CD Cover

To produce the It’s in Your Blood Hepatitis C CD, visits were made to nine regional communities, engaging over ninety youth to produce nine songs. An information track recited by an Elder discussing Hepatitis C was also recorded. The CD was launched in Youth Week 2005, and will be further distributed through the Aboriginal Health Worker Journal and through NACCHO to the many Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services across the nation.

The Making Your Mind Up CD recorded a song in Adelaide and Port Augusta which focuses on mental health and social and emotional well-being. This CD has been distributed to Aboriginal Health Services within South Australia.

‘Tune into Your Health’ is about to start another series of education and music recording workshops in metropolitan and regional South Australia called ‘Risky Business’. This project is targeting the issue of problem gambling.

Problem gambling is a sleeper issue that rarely gets the attention it deserves. Gaming machines have ‘feminised’ problem gambling. Prior to their introduction less than one in ten problem gamblers were women, now it is fifty-fifty. This has severely impacted the support base in many communities where women play the role of looking after others.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of problem gambling, yet it is rarely mentioned in child and maternal health reports. Aboriginal communities in regional South Australia have very limited access to culturally based problem gambling services. Other regions of Australia have no access to culturally based services. It is clear much more needs to happen in this area.

‘Risky Business’ will make a further step towards raising awareness and working with Aboriginal youth to promote messages about maintaining health and well-being in a world that creates ever more challenges. It is anticipated this project will increase the level of knowledge and shift some of the attitudes about gambling away from being regarded as a harmless pastime, to being recognised as an activity that can potentially lead to a lot of despair and hardship. For further information about the ‘Tune into Your Health’

PS: In the five minutes it took to read this article about $10,000 was lost through gaming machines in South Australia. Total gaming machine losses over the past year 2004/05) is just under $750 million, which equates to about $114,000 lost every hour in South Australia.

Nunkwarrin Yunti has been involved in the following music CD Projects involving schools and youth groups from all over the state.